This is, in fact, true. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are more common among teenagers, especially for girls and for young people under the age of 25. Why? The reasons are different. First, there is increased sexual promiscuity among young people, little use of protection, and, unfortunately, according to research, a lack of information about the risks of unprotected sex, both in regards to a possible unwanted pregnancy as well as in regards to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). According to a recent report from Censis (a socio-economic research institute), 90% of boys identify sexually transmitted diseases with AIDS; only 15% know about Papillomavirus or HPV, 13% about gonorrhea, 11% about hepatitis and 6% about chlamydia.
Most boys do not use a condom, or do so only occasionally. It only takes a single sexual encounter with an infected person – who may not even have any apparent symptoms – to be infected with one or more diseases. Some may only be mild, but this is not always the case! Above all, those who have already had an infection have a greater chance of being reinfected, and have to pay more attention. Various germs have different incubation periods, and therefore even if everything seems fine and you have no symptoms, after the doctor’s diagnosis and undergoing the indicated therapy, it is important to get checked out to make sure that all infections have been effectively resolved so you can avoid any surprises.
Young girls are more vulnerable, in part because of the anatomy of the female genitals, which are more susceptible than the male ones. This is partly because the tissue surrounding the cervix in a teenager is not yet fully mature; it is more delicate than that present in an adult woman, and therefore more fragile when faced with aggressive and resistant bacteria. Among these is Chlamydia, which prefers young women between the ages of 15 and 24, and the bacteria that causes gonorrhea, which can affect all ages and often associates with Chlamydia. According to World Health Organization (WHO), gonorrhea is increasingly widespread and very contagious. It is reported that about 78 million people a year contract this infection through sexual intercourse, and it is becoming more resistant to antibiotics.
